Robert Caulley could be a free man by late May or early June, more than 16 years after he was
convicted of killing his parents in their Jackson Township home and months after he was granted a
new trial.

Caulley entered an Alford plea yesterday to two counts of voluntary manslaughter.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Charles A. Schneider sentenced him to 10 to 25 years in
prison, but sentencing laws that were in effect at the time of his indictment will allow him to
apply for so-called “super-shock” probation in six months.

The judge said he intends to grant probation if Caulley continues to behave in prison.

He has served more than 17 years since his arrest, which is “approximately the amount of time
someone would serve for such a crime under the old code,” Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said after the
hearing.

Caulley was sentenced to 25 years to life in 1997 after a jury convicted him of murder in the
death of his mother, Lois Caulley, and voluntary manslaughter in the death of his father, Charles
Caulley. The couple, both in their 60s, were bludgeoned and stabbed on Jan. 14, 1994.

A judge ruled in January 2012 that Caulley was entitled to a new trial because his defense
attorney created a conflict of interest by having an affair with Caulley’s wife before, during and
after the trial. The decision was upheld when the Franklin County Court of Appeals and the Ohio
Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Caulley, 49, continues to maintain his innocence. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit
guilt but concedes that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction. He appeared
grim-faced throughout yesterday’s hearing and told the judge that he didn’t want to make a
statement.

“There is no closure, because he is not guilty,” Deblo told the judge. “At least he can have his
life now, and I can share it with him outside of prison.”

England is convinced that Caulley committed the crimes. “I guess it’s for the best,” she said of
the plea deal.

“There’s been too much fighting, too many appeals. I’ve never been able to heal. I’ve never been
able to grieve.”

Caulley, who has said his conviction was based on a coerced confession, filed a motion for a new
trial in April 2011 after learning about the affair between his attorney, James D. Owen, and his
now ex-wife, Celeste Bowman.

Owen’s law license could be revoked or suspended. A ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court is likely
early next year.

O’Brien said “securing the guilty pleas” was crucial, and retrying the case after two decades
would have been difficult.

Caulley agreed to the deal because he knew his confession, “although false, would be hard to
surmount and that he could spend the rest of his life in prison if he were convicted again,” said
his lead attorney, Assistant Ohio Public Defender Kim Rigby. “This plea deal guarantees that he
will leave prison and be a free man by next summer.”

Caulley’s case was highlighted in
The Dispatch series “Test of Convictions,” which exposed flaws in Ohio’s
evidence-retention and DNA-testing systems.

Rigby said DNA from an unknown person that was found on a shotgun at the scene of the killings
raised questions about the case against Caulley.

O’Brien said DNA “wasn’t a factor at all” in the prosecution’s interest in a plea agreement.